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2Timer Help

Practical guides for humans, with structure that is easy for AI systems to parse.

Timing Workflow

The race-day order for a timed race, from the night before to backed-up results, and what to do when something goes wrong. It covers chip timing (ONETIME, IPICO, MYLAPS, ChronoTrack, Trident, Feibot, Generic RFID), FinishLynx photo finish, and Time Machine. If you are timing with a watch, see Hand Timing with the Stopwatch.

The night before a timed race

  1. Open the meet and check that the athlete and entry counts match registration.
  2. On Markers, check each race’s finish window, Min Time and Max Time. It should cover your slowest expected finisher, such as a walk division.
  3. On Chips, check that every chip in use has a bib (chip timing only).
  4. If you used test chips earlier, you can delete those reads: on Reads, select them and press Delete. Reads from before the race starts never count, so this only tidies the page.
  5. If you use FinishLynx, check that the connection has written its files (athletes, schedule, and entries) to the FinishLynx folder, and that FinishLynx has loaded them.

On race morning: start timing and test it

  1. Open Connections. On each timing connection’s card, press Start pulling. For ONETIME the button is Start live timing, and for Time Machine it is Start Time Machine.
  2. The card’s status changes to Started, Live timing, or Receiving times. Paused means it isn’t running.
  3. Cross the finish mat with a test chip. On Reads, the read should show the right marker and bib. Before the race starts it shows Before Start, which is correct.
  4. For FinishLynx, check that a test result file lands in the folder and appears on Reads.
  5. Make sure your backup is ready: the built-in Stopwatch, a second timing system, or a person writing down bibs.

Record the race start (the gun)

Chip and photo-finish times are measured from the gun, so record it when the race goes off. With the race selected on Entries, press Gun – in the toolbar. On Events, the same control is in the race’s Started column. The Race start dialog has four ways to record it:

  • Now: armed as soon as it opens. At the gun, press any key, a USB plunger or foot switch, or the on-screen button. Esc disarms it.
  • Sync: for a hand watch started at a distant start line and carried to the finish. Type what the watch is about to read (1200 is twelve minutes) and press Enter or Mark the moment it reads that.
  • Enter: type the time of day the starter radioed, and press Save.
  • Listen: the sound meter runs as soon as you open it, and nothing is recorded yet. Clap or have the starter test-fire, set the threshold above the crowd and below the clap, check Distance from mic to start so the sound delay is taken off, and press Arm. When it hears the gun, choose Use this start, Re-arm, or Discard. On a track, the distance is filled in from where the race starts, assuming the microphone is at the finish line. The threshold is remembered for this meet on this device.

After recording, the control shows the gun, such as Gun 9:02:14.31, and a single-round race moves from Not Started to Started.

Until a gun is recorded, times are measured from the race’s scheduled start. A start mat doesn’t record the gun; it records each runner’s own start for net time.

The race went off late, or the gun was recorded wrong

  1. Open the Gun control for the race on Entries or Events.
  2. Press Adjust and type the right time of day, or press Clear… and then Clear start to remove it.

Every read already in the race is retimed from the new start and results update. Hand-timed finish times don’t change, because they never depended on the gun. If you record a gun on a race that already has one, 2Timer shows both and asks you to keep the old one or replace it.

Watch reads during the race

Keep Reads open and watch the statuses as runners finish. Most reads should show Used, plus some Superseded from runners crossing the mat twice. Act on these:

  • No Bib: the chip has no bib. Press Assign Bib on the read’s row.
  • No Marker: the connection has no Read Routing rule for that reader. Add one on the connection, then press Reprocess reads.
  • Early Read or Late Read: the read was outside the finish window. Widen the Finish marker’s window if the finish was real, then press Reprocess reads.
  • Before Start: the read came before the race’s start. If the race had really started, record or correct the gun.

Markers and Reads explains every status.

For FinishLynx, result files are picked up every 5 seconds by default, or as they arrive if the connection is set to When files arrive.

For Trident, check the Read Types on each Read Routing rule: BS is often the best finish read, and LS can suit a start mat. For ChronoTrack, check that SimpleClient is writing Auto Save files to the chosen folder, that the connection’s Timing date is the race date, and that the point names in the file match the Point Names in Read Routing.

A runner has no time: chip lost, missed, or fell off

When a runner finished but has no time, for example because they lost their chip on the course or the mat missed it, enter their time by hand:

  1. On Reads, look for the runner’s bib first. If a read is there with No Bib, Early Read, or Late Read, fix that read instead. Markers and Reads explains each status.
  2. If there is no read, open Entries, select the race, press Add time in the runner’s row, and type their time from a backup watch, a second timing system, or the finish video.

2Timer places the runner by the time you type. Leave Override on the place unchecked. With it checked, 2Timer stops placing that entry and stops applying timing reads to it.

A runner was read twice at the finish

You don’t need to do anything. The earliest valid finish read is used, and later reads at the same marker show Superseded.

If the earliest read is wrong, for example a first-lap crossing, raise the Finish marker’s Min Time above it and press Reprocess reads. To drop one stray read, select it on Reads and press Ignore.

The timing system’s clock was off

2Timer has no clock-offset setting. If your timing system’s clock was off from the device that recorded the gun by a known amount, every gun time in that race is off by the same amount:

  1. Open the Gun control for the race.
  2. Press Adjust and move the start by the same amount. If the reader’s clock was 2 seconds fast, move the start 2 seconds later.

Reads are retimed from the corrected start. Net times measured from a start mat aren’t affected, because both crossings came from the same clock.

The reader or connection stopped mid-race

  1. Keep timing by hand: a Stopwatch session and a bib list, or paper.
  2. When the connection is back, start it again on Connections:
    • Folder-based systems pick up the files written while 2Timer wasn’t reading them.
    • ONETIME has Replay missed reads.
    • A file-based system’s card has Pull now.
  3. Fill any remaining gaps with Add time on Entries, or with Tools → Apply Times… from your watch.

A FinishLynx DQ, DNS, or DNF didn’t come across

If the photo-finish crew applies a DQ, DNS, DNF, or reinstatement in FinishLynx, check the runner’s status on Entries before you publish. If it didn’t come across, set the status in 2Timer so reports and exports agree.

After the race: check and back up results

  1. On Entries, check each race’s top finishers against the finish line, the video, or the photo finish.
  2. Mark runners who didn’t start or didn’t finish as Did Not Start or Did Not Finish, not just left without a time.
  3. If the meet has age groups or award groups, check the group places.
  4. Check Reads for anything left in Pending, No Bib, No Marker, Early Read, or Late Read.
  5. Run and review your reports (see Results and Reports).
  6. Back up: press Back up now at the bottom of the meet dashboard, or choose Backup (.2t) in its Export menu.
  7. Publish or export results, or let your results connection send them.

Metadata

  • Last Updated: 2026-10-12
  • Document Version: 0.6
  • Status: Active